History (Anazar Supplement)
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[edit] The Ancient Years
This time period has been utterly forgotten by all living creatures in the universe. Even the oldest of shades from this period cannot be summoned and questioned; the very material of their spirits has unraveled into nothingness. Only in the mind and ledger of Noloshem, Scribe of the Gods, does knowledge of the Ancient Years still dwell.
[edit] The Golden Age of the Ancients
Long ago, the world of Anazar was full of technology. The Ancients had forgotten how to tap magic early in their meteoric rise to power, and by the time that civilized societies arose it was little more than a myth. The Ancients became the dominant (and, indeed, the only sentient) species upon the world, and immediately set about shaping reality to their whim. They launched themselves, encased in metal facsimiles of the planet, into orbit, and colonized the entirety of their solar system. They learned to craft everything, even themselves, to the smallest-- even to the subatomic-- level. As their fifth millennia of their dominance over the planet came to an end, it seemed that even the pathways of creation and time would soon fall before their inexorable, industrious advances. Yet, sometime shortly before they collectively launched themselves to power exceeding even that of their ancient forgotten deities, they truly and unequivocally shed the last remnants of their humanity. Their corruption and utter greed caused the catastrophic implosion of their society, and-- in just a few short seconds-- they managed to wholly and completely destroy every advance of the past 5,000 years. The shining beacon of progress and civilization fell without the stabilization of the true underpinnings of civilization: morality, compassion, strength, love.
[edit] The Dark Ages
The terrible weapons that the Ancients unleashed nearly destroyed all life. In the next thousands of years it seemed at times as though even the heartbeat of the galaxy itself would still. Yet life unstoppable eked out a tattered existence among the ruins of a once great civilization. As the millennia of darkness began to wane, several new powers rose from the ashes and asserted themselves on the fragile and shocked progenitor and cradle world of Anazar.
[edit] The Chaos
The Chaos is the name given to the least well known (but still remembered) period of history on Anazar. During this time several new sentient races arose, and the art of magic was rediscovered. Many empires and civilizations were created and destroyed, but little knowledge and fewer artifacts remain.
[edit] Age of Demons
During a particularly turbulent time of warfare, a conjunction with a passing plane caused massive incursions of demons to enter Anazar. Lacking a unified foe, the demon princes quickly enslaved the races of Anazar and settled down to endless games of conquest among themselves. This continued for nearly fifteen centuries, until an elf named Eriluthil staged a coup and, in the face of overwhelming odds, overthrew the demon prince Ix-Doril. For the first time, the elder races of Anazar-- the elves, dwarves, humans, orcs, giants, and dragons-- united, and were able to defeat the remaining demonic armies after an epic clash upon the plains of Mt. Haphborn.
[edit] Age of Dragons
[edit] The Council of Amerilmore
After the defeat of the demons, and exhausted of warfare and slaughter, the elder races turned toward diplomacy to try to resolve their ideological differences. Representatives of all met at the last standing free city, the elven capital of Amerilmore. The Great Council of Amerilmore met for two months, but the races were unable to resolve their differences. The humans, elves, and orcs all wished for a free society, where liberty was guaranteed for all citizens. The giants, dwarves, and dragons, however, generally wished for a rigidly structured society, where a strong, militant government could ensure order and-- most especially-- protection from any future planar incursion. When the giants became domineering and continuously reproached the dwarves, the dwarves withdrew in protest deep within their mountain homes, where they swore an oath against the giants and then locked their massive stone doors tightly. The following day a radical Orcish priest named Krag attempted to assassinate the giant leader, and the giants began a rampage through the city. The humans, elves, and orcs took arms against them, and soon all but the reclusive dwarves and haughty dragons were embroiled in yet another war. The war raged for several years and decimated the already decimated populations. Finally, when it seemed that the war would never end, the dragons stepped forth from the shadows.
[edit] The Dragon Overlords
The dragons decided among themselves that the 'lesser' races had to ruled, at least for a time, by draconic law. The motives for this vary; among the chromatic dragons, lust for power and dominance was certainly a driving force. Even the good dragons accepted the necessity of rule (at least for a time), since-- without some semblance of order-- the lesser races seemed bent upon their own eradication. So thus began an extended period of peace. The peace, however, was with a price; while warfare was suppressed, so was all expression of culture. It was a period of rebuilding, but also of stagnation. The giant civilization had been hardest hit by the period of warfare, and was never able to recover during the stewardship of the dragons. Over the next centuries they lost the previous grandeur of their society and fell into a scattered state of barbarism. The other races managed to survive, if not prosper. A period of stasis fell over the world.
[edit] The First Great Dragon War
The balance of power was finally shaken when the dwarves resurfaced. Fully three hundred centuries had passed since they first went underground, and their culture had hardened and solidified into a strong, loyal, lawful society. They, unlike the other elder races, had even prospered, despite their previous isolation from the surface world.
When the dwarves resurfaced, they brought with them a model for a highly structured, peaceful society. The metallic dragons realized that, using the dwarven society as a model, it was possible for the remaining nations to govern themselves. They declared the need for draconic oversight ended and peacefully withdrew.
The chromatic dragons, on the other hand, refused to yield their power. The oppressed people, encouraged by free-minded spirits among the elves and humans, rose up against the draconic tyrants. Over the next years a small but spirited group of heroes effectively waged war against the dragons and their remaining allies (the barbaric derivatives of the giant culture), and—at the Battle of Mt. Kildur—the allied forces overcame the great red wyrm Xandrithys and drove the remaining chromatic dragons underground.
[edit] The Flowering
After the defeat of the evil dragons, the peoples of Anazar entered the longest period of peace in their accumulated history. While the centuries certainly had conflicts, all were resolved without spilling forth into general carnage and mayhem on the continent. The Flowering was a time of cultural rebirth and renewal among all the civilized races of Anazar. It was during this time that the most recognizable aspects of the races-- the dwarven love of gems and stone working, the elven arts of magic and swordplay, etc.-- arose. Time passed, nearly eleven centuries worth, and Anazar seemed forever destined for peace. But the people grew lax, and while culture grew, so did the power of those whom would do evil; and so it was that occurred the greatest cataclysm since the unleashing of the weapons of the Ancients.
[edit] The Schism
One day the people of Anazar awoke to find their world utterly changed. The now ancient shade of the long dead dragon overlord Xandrithys had patiently waited for more than a thousand years, but on Midsummer’s Day it finally revealed itself to the world. Horrible armies of undead, led by great chromatic wyrms, poured from the depths and evil places of the world.
[edit] The Second Great Dragon War
The complacent people of Anazar were slow to react, and the first days of the onslaught were nearly their undoing. But quickly they roused themselves. The monstrous peoples— the trolls, minotaurs, and giants of the Troll Wastes— flocked to Xandrithys’ banner, and the other races—-elves, dwarves, humans, and orcs—-formed a hasty alliance. The warfare was brutal and violent, and the forces of the Dread Shade maliciously pillaged and utterly destroyed all that they conquered. Xandrithys did not mean to conquer; he meant to topple.
Out of the chaos which ensued arose heroes. Alaric, a noble human warrior, but a pagan, eventually rose to champion his people. Working alongside the powerful elven mage Iuriana Galanodel and dwarven High Priest Kjarln, and benefiting greatly from the wisdom and strength of the metallic dragons, the civilized races were at long last able to defeat the undead, draconic, and demonic forces of Xandrithys, and the combined magic of the three heroes at last forced Xandrithys' shade from the world and forever banished it from returning.
[edit] The Curse of Schism
As the shade of the wyrm Xandrithys was finally destroyed, it laid with it’s final breath a curse upon the peoples of the world.
As brothers turn upon themselves, and crimson blood is spilt,
May the curse of all the dragonkind be transfered unto you…
Instantly the races were split as fell magic coursed across the countryside. Entire communities were overtaken by the change; sometimes whole families were altered, sometimes only scattered individuals. All the beings of Anazar were affected. From the humans came the insatiably curious halflings. The hardy gnomes came from the stout dwarves, hobgoblins came from orcs, and the elves gave birth to their dark subterranean kin, the Drow. The many forms of giants mutated into all the monstrous humanoids, including the gnolls, bugbears, and goblins. Even the dragons, already affected so as to be split in two (into chromatic and metallic dragons) changed, giving birth not only to crystalline and other outlandish dragons, but also dragonkin, lizardfolk, and all other manner of reptilian creatures, even the lowly kobolds. When the burst of energy finally finished washing over the entire planet, the future of Anazar was forever changed. No longer would there be but several great, warring civilizations. Those golden days were passed. The future-- for the time, at least-- was consigned to chaos and anarchy.
[edit] The War of Schism
The races of Anazar, at their period of greatest unity and harmony, were thrown into the pits of civil strife and sectarian violence. Prejudice, and often outright aggression, caused the new races to feel outcast. Some, like the Drow, were already twisted to evil by the curse. Others turned that way from the bitter ostracizing of the ancient races. A period of bitter infighting ensued, unstoppable by all who tried, even the heroes of the war. Civilization literally ground to a halt for nearly two hundred and ninety years, until a new balance of power was achieved.
[edit] The Treaty of Innisfell
All the races, new and old, were decimated by the bitter infighting, and finally wearily agreed to send diplomats to a peace council. Held in the dwarven realm of Innisfell, the area most approximating neutral ground, the Council lasted for nearly ten months. At the end of this time, it was agreed that the races would go their separate ways: the old races retained the upper lands, and were joined by the halflings and gnomes. Many of the new races, though, including most of the monstrous humanoids, the Drow, the dark gnomes and dwarves, and many of the giants were granted kingdoms in the great system of underground caverns, seas, mountains, and other subterranean realms collectively called the Deep. Of those peoples whom refused to go underground, a combined force of humans and elves drove into the savage, uncivilized regions of the east: the Troll Wastes. With the signing of the Treaty of Innisfell, political boundaries were set for new and old kingdoms alike, and a new status quo was created.
[edit] Modern Day
As the modern day opens, the great nations of Anazar rest in an uneasy alliance. The destruction and bitter feuds of the Schism War are still fresh upon the minds of the people of the world. The surface world is split into several large nations in the east, but the west remains scattered city-states and large regions of wilderness. The dwarves have settled two kingdoms; one is isolationist, while the other believes that open dialogue and diplomacy with the outside world are the best protection for the dwarves. The elven homeland has been reclaimed from the dragons and their allies, and the ancient capital of Amerilmore has been restored to its previous glory. The new gnome kingdom has claimed land at the western border of the civilized world, but the halflings have not found a land of their own. Instead, they live within human (and, to a certain extent, elven and orcish) lands, largely as roving nomadic bands. The Orcs have happily settled back into their archaic quasi-nomadic tribal society upon the central plains. The human kingdoms continue to pursue their traditional goals of industrialization and expansionism. The greatest threats to the political stability of Anazar are insurrectionist groups within the settled kingdoms, ever seeking to unbalance power between the forces of order and those of freedom. Further, shadows and rumors grow ominously out of the Troll Wastes. No one seems to know how the next wave of giant aggression will alter the landscape of the civilized nations.
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